Thursday, December 29, 2016

Everybody talks about having New Year’s resolutions that are
supposed to make life better. But if you want your home theater to really shine
in 2017, then it’s time to make a New Year’s resolution to update how you watch
and how you listen so as to have the best experience possible.

The Television

The flat panel TV changed how we watched television by bringing a widescreen image
into the home. This was later accompanied by the Full HD resolution that blew away ordinary
tube-based TVs to add detail and more colors to the images being displayed. Now
there are 4K televisions which have 4X HDs resolution to
really bring the movie theater home. Add being able to have a curved 4K TV or an OLED 4K TV and the choices for which television
will best suit your needs and decor are huge. As is the ability to get a really big TV that can take over a wall, if you
don’t want it standing on a cabinet in the living room or bedroom.

The Sound System

Sound always accompanies a picture, and to make the home theater
experience exciting the sound has to be vibrant and loud. The bad old days
forced viewers to listen to their TV’s speakers and that was that. But today
there are many more choices: you can set up a sound bar in front of the TV which has all of the
speakers inside a single chassis or which combines with a wireless subwoofer or which has new technologies to enhance the sound even further; you can
connect an AV Receiver to a series of stand-alone speakers
to create surround sound; you can even connect a pair of wireless headphones for private listening for those
times when having it loud just won’t fly. Any of these choices will provide a
powerful sound field to make watching even more enjoyable.

The Playing of Content

Streaming a movie may seem convenient,but for the confidence of being able to play
what you want whenever you want, having your own movie library can’t be beat. DVD players and Blu-ray players are now commonplace. But should you
want to watch 4K movies on your 4K TV, you’ll need a 4K Blu-ray player, which is backwardly compatible
and able to up-convert non-4K discs to make them look even better.

The Seating

Piling up on the couch is an easy way to get everybody together
to watch (and less a problem now since today’s TVs have wider viewing angles), but investing in
studio seating chairs is worth considering if comfort is your goal. These seats
are designed for home use and make a Lazy-Boy look weak. They even have cup
holders. Another route is to look at specialized “gaming” chairs which are also
designed to bring comfort to those planning to sit for hours at end. Having
special chairs for your home theater also makes the time watching seem more
special too, and to do this right it might be wise to get in touch with a
professional installation company, for example Just One Touch, to help you get and set things up
just right.

The Lighting

Movie theaters may seem to be absolutely dark, but they’re not
and your home theater shouldn’t be either. Look to small LED lights that can be
placed strategically throughout the home theater so as to minimize glare while
providing discrete pools of illumination. After all, people will need to get to
the kitchen for more snacks during movie-time, so making sure there’s no
accidents is important.

Making New Year’s resolutions is good, but making your home
theater the go-to for you and your family is better.

Friday, November 11, 2016

With the holidays approaching, there’s no better time
to enjoy watching movies
and TV shows on your home theater. But because today’s electronics are so
dependable, many take it for granted that nothing else needs to be done once
they’ve set up their home theater. But just as regularly vacuuming carpets and cleaning out the
refrigerator now and then makes for a better home, so too does taking care of
the various components and devices that make up your home theater so as to keep
them working in tip-top shape. So with the holidays approaching, here’s a few
tips on keeping your home theater working at its best.

Dusting Off The Components

Dust has a tendency to get everywhere, and most home theater components are not mounted on the wall but instead are on TV
stands and cabinets (a flat-panel TV being the exception since their lightweight
construction has made this more possible now than ever). Taking a anti-static
and soft cloth works well as you lightly dust off the components, keeping in
mind that removing the dust, not just moving it around is the goal here. A
feather duster that has been sprayed with an anti-dust misting can help here
too. Don’t even think about using a vacuum cleaner — just hand powered cleaning
will do the trick. And maybe it’s time to check with the manufacturer as to how
to best clean the speakers
so that their natural beauty can shine through.

Cleaning the LCD Panels

It’s obvious that a flat-panel TVs screen will acquire dust and other fine particles
over time, and that’s especially true when the area in which the TV is found is
heavily trafficked. Add to that a nearby open window or pets moving freely in
the area and there can end up being a fine layer over the screen that both
diffuses the image as well as decreases the amount of brightness. Cleaning the
TV screen doesn’t require a professional but it does require a proper cleaning kit (composed of a safe cleaning fluid and an even safer, soft chamois
cloth). The basic procedure is to spray the fluid on the cloth (not the screen)
and then move the cloth across the screen gently from one side to the other
(not rubbing it in a circle up and down). As the cloth is moved down from the
top of the screen to the bottom (with frequent reapplications of the fluid), it
will become evident just how much detriment is being removed. And don’t pass up
the opportunity to clean the LCD screens that are on other devices of your home
theater; the DVD player or Blu-ray player can benefit from a cleaning, as can other components
like the AV Receiver.

Checking the Cables

The advent of WiFi has meant the elimination of cables
having to go to the WiFi router, but there’s still plenty of cables found in a
home theater, such as the cables going from a cable box to the TV
and others. Spend a few minutes removing cables and using a condensed air can
to blow out the connections the cables were in, then reinsert the cables. It
also doesn’t hurt to wipe off the connections at the end of the cables first
too. And in the case of wiring that is going from an AV Receiver to speakers, there’s no reason not to remove, wipe off and then
reinsert the wires also.

Keeping your home
theater clean and “happy” will result in better viewing. That will make you
happy too.

Friday, October 28, 2016

Anyone can easily have a
home theater if they are willing to make some effort: a new BIG SCREEN TV is all that’s needed to look at, while adding
a surround sound system (be that an AV Receiver and a set of speakers or an all-in-one
home theater system) takes care of the audio. Then a few other components are needed to
complete the setup; for example a Blu-ray player or better yet a 4K Blu-ray
player, a
turntable for playing vinyl or a digital high-resolution audio player.

So that’s the end of it
right? No it’s not. Lost in the effort to create a home theater is the fact
that

there are steps to take in
order to keep the home theater functioning efficiently. Some of these steps are
so simple that they’ve often overlooked, but ignoring them is not to anyone’s
benefit because they can seriously impact the quality and enjoyment of the home
theater.

The Video Cables

HDMI cables are amazing because they take care of both the
video signal and the audio signal, eliminating secondary cables and the mess
they can cause. But while HDMI cables tend to look somewhat alike on the surface,
the quality of their manufacturing is very different. So while free HDMI cables
are often included with the purchase of a component, it’s best to buy a HDMI
cable where you can see what you are getting rather than accepting whatever has
been put in the box as an afterthought, especially since the cables will often
get bent when placed in position for doing their job. Getting or replacing the HDMI cable with a high quality one is a simple way to get
the best picture possible.

The Audio Cables

There are times when audio
cables is the preferred (or required) choice in the home theater, for example
when connecting a record
turntable. There
are also times when a Toslink
optical audio cable is needed, because of convenience or use with an older audio amplifier.
These optical cables digitally transmit the audio signal in a superior fashion
to that of analog audio cables but are somewhat delicate and so replacing
existing ones with newer and more sturdy version is best. In the case of analog cables, using high quality and well made cables will
help to eliminate hiss and other “noise” problems that can plague the sound.

Keeping Everything Clean

Dust can damage components
by getting “into the works” or just by piling up on speakers or components or,
worse yet, on the television. Dusting the home theater is simple enough and
will also contribute to a healthier environment (vacuuming around home theater components should always be done carefully as a matter of course). Keeping speakers
clean means not rubbing them with a cloth that can cause scratches to the
finish, and that’s even more of an issue when cleaning a TVs screen. The screen is glass, after all. For that,
expect to use a special kit which provides a safe cloth to use, as well as the
proper cleaning fluid to use with the cloth. Reading the instructions that come
with the kit will insure doing it safely (one obvious tip: spray the cloth, not
the TV screen for cleaning).

The purpose of a home
theater is to entertain. But whether you have set it up yourself or used a
professional installer to do it for you (for example, Just One Touch), taking these few simple steps will insure
that you are getting your money’s worth every time you sit down to watch or
listen.

Friday, October 21, 2016

For most people, being out “on the trail” brings up imagines of
lonesome woods devoid of life and filled with violent animals. But the reality
of camping is so different — and so much fun — that everyone should reassess
and try it, no matter how annoying summer camp memories may have been. But
whether you’re hiking up a mountain trail or just camping out in a National
Park or even the backyard — there’s no reason not to bring some civilization
with you. And by that we mean mobile devices that can add to the fun and even
keep a bit of safety surrounding you.

Here’s some examples:

PORTABLE BLUETOOTH SPEAKERS

Everyone probably has used a portable
Bluetooth speaker at one time or another. But many don’t consider
just how safe it is to take some of these speakers out on the trail — there are
waterproof
models that laugh (so to speak) at being dunked in a river, others
that are weather
resistant and others so rugged that they handle getting dirt on them
better than you do. Portable speakers that are designed for the outdoors work
just as great indoors, but when they’re taken on a trip is when they can really
shine. And since their volume is usually all out of proportion to their size,
which is often small and lightweight, there’s no reason not to take them along
so that they can perform for you.

BATTERY BACKUPS

The great outdoors rarely comes with electrical outlets. But
mobile devices need power — and lots of it —so how can this be taken care of?
The simple answer is to pack lightweight power
backup devices that can be used to replenish the mobile device’s
power. There are even backup devices that use hand cranks and solar power to generate their own
electricity, such as flashlights and lanterns. Some of these self-generating
power supplies (there are some portable speakers that fall into this category
and even some portable camp stoves as well) are also made to supply mobile
devices with power as well. That makes them not just “green” but also sensible to
take along.But having one of these battery
backups on hand is a no-brainer.

MOBILE HOT SPOT

The great outdoors rarely features WiFi, but that doesn’t
mean you can’t have your own wireless network even while setting up camp or in
your sleeping bag or tent. There are devices that go out and onto the Internet
using a cellular signal — it’s basically the same as using a phone’s cellular
signal to connect. The difference is that these devices then generate a WiFi
“hot spot” so that everyone can use them. This allows not just phones but also
tablets (which rarely have cellular services built-in) to be used. And unlike
using someone else’s WiFi network, you’re in complete control of when and how
it’s used (not to mention not having to share it with others that are not of
your party). This also works much better than having to try and use a phone to
create a “hot spot” because it takes a lot of processing power away from the
phone being used for other purposes (like to provide music for that Bluetooth
speaker).

Spending time outdoors away from home doesn’t mean leaving the
convenience of today’s digital lifestyle behind. It just takes some planning
and a little bit of technology to get the job done.

Monday, October 17, 2016

There was a TV network who had a slogan that if you hadn’t seen
one of their shows, it was new to you. The same can be said of old movies
which, even if you’ve seen them in the past, continue to bring a sense of fun
and enjoyment every time they’re watched. It’s why so many of them are called
“classics” and why they can be watched over and over again. But one of the
disadvantages of old movies is that their quality suffers in comparison to a
“modern” film. That makes watching them less enjoyable. But while it is true
that the movie studios have remastered and enhanced the quality of many of the
old movies, the overall quality can still use some help. And that help is right
there at your fingertips. Here’s how:

Setting Up the Room

Movies look better when the room is dark — that’s why you often
bump into armrests on chairs when trying to return to your seat after buying
that tub of popcorn. But even movie theaters aren’t totally in the dark so
having a bit of light is OK. But try experimenting with turning off the
overhead lights or moving the position of a table lamp or closing the drapes to
see just how differently the images on the display will now look. Then make a
note of what looks best so you can repeat it when it is time to watch.

Adjusting Your Flat Panel Television

Today’s televisions are marvels of technology — and
don’t get us started on how impressive a big screen TV looks seated in your living room or
bedroom. Unlike the tube-models of the past, a flat-panel TV has a number of controls that are
specifically designed to alter/enhance the picture that is being displayed. You
can go into the menu and “turn on” such things as “noise reduction” or “edge
enhancement” among others. Even the color temperature is under your control
(and counter-intuitively can make a big difference when watching a black and
white movie). Of course the overall brightness and contrast of what is being
watched can be altered too, but in most cases a modern television will handle
that on its own. It will even give you movie “presets” that are pre-configured
for changing how the overall image will look. And of course having a 4K television with dynamic range (HDR) means an
even higher resolution for watching.

Update Your DVD/Blu-ray
Player to 4K

DVDs have been around for quite a long time now, with Blu-ray
discs having taken over because of their higher resolution and better color
renditions. But to get the best results from that spinning disc you need the
latest technologies built into the disc player: for DVDs that means a new DVD player and for Blu-ray discs that means a
new Blu-ray player. And since 4K movies will eventually
take the top-of-the-mountain position, a 4K Blu-ray player should be sitting in front of
that TV or to the side of it. Streaming is all very well and good, but a lot of
the older movies just can not be found online. Besides, why not use that great
library of discs that you’ve been collecting all these years?

Nothing beats the comfort and convenience of watching old movies at home. Now
that modern technology has given us the best TVs and video players to watch them on; it’s
time to sit back and enjoy.

Thursday, October 06, 2016

Back in the day, remote controlled vehicles (i.e., “R/C”) was a
lot of fun to have — cars and military vehicles and even planes could be
controlled from a distance. Today it’s all about Unmanned Aircraft Systems — or
as they are more commonly known, drones. Drones take the idea of having a
flying machine and ups it to the nth degree in a way that R/C never could. Plus
unlike R/C vehicles, drone’s are able to do a lot more than just fly. So it
makes sense to break a drone down into its basic components in order to decide
which drone is best for you.

Drone Specifications

A drone at its heart is a flying machine. This means it has to
have a means to propel itself aloft (propellers) and stay there. The battery
powering the drone determines how long a flight can be, and must be charged
after each flight before another can take place. Also built into the drone is
acceptance of commands from a remote controller. Sensors to keep an eye on
altitude and stabilize the flight can be included as well as the ability to
build in GPS, crash avoidance and other more exotic systems.

Drone Video

A “birds-eye view” is custom made for a drone. But since the
person is earthbound, it’s up to a camera lens to be the one seeing what the
drone is flying over. A
high-resolution camera in a drone is becoming commonplace (for
example, 720p or 1080p or even 4K resolution) and videos can alternated with HD
resolution pictures. Memory cards store what the camera sees, although it is
also possible on some drones to stream the video to the owner’s smartphone
running a special app.

Drone Control

Wireless control is the basis for flying a drone, and the most
obvious kind of controller is one that you hold in your hand and which is
automatically linked to the drone. Learning to flying a drone does take some
practice, but the learning curve is not onerous at all, especially in the case
of a drone that is controlled through a smartphone app. There’s also another
advantage of smartphone control — in some cases the phone’s screen becomes a
view screen that works with the controller to show you what the drone is seeing
(through streaming video).

what

Drone Registration

The final thing to know about owning and operating a drone is
that it must now be registered with the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration).
This applies to pretty much anyone buying a drone for recreation purposesto fly outdoors (i.e., non-commercial) but is
a lot easier than that of going to the DMV for a driver’s license. A drone
registration can be done online
(https://drone-registration.net/product/drone-registration-form) and is good
for three years, providing you’ve paid the minor fee. This doesn’t give you
carte blanche to fly your drone anyway you’d like because — just as in having a
car — there are rules that apply. Most of these are common sense, like not
flying a drone near an airport or where airplanes might be found over a fire or
near a military installation or in a crowd. But as there are some serious rules
in place, and to avoid causing a hazardous situation to exist, check out the information found on the FAA’s
website (https://www.faa.gov/uas/).

Drones can come as simple or sophisticated,
small or large. Choosing the right type of drone is a personal thing,
especially since they are not made a la carte at this time — what the drone
comes with is what you get.But for
anyone looking to fly the skies, nothing beats watching your own drone flying
amidst the clouds, under your control.